Ferocity Of Fire
by Jinx Verity
Summary: Edward Elric and his brother have no idea what theyre getting into when they agree to escort a strange girl named Nova. Is she really the dread war weapon Supernova? T for violence


_YAY! :D Its finally here! After months of procrastinating! Chapter one AND I put a prologue! (How great am I) Read, review, you know the drill! Will be updated soon!_

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_Prologue_

"The experiment is finally complete!" a man in a long, white coat announced from his place behind a podium. A large audience of scientists, military officials, alchemists, and investors sat beneath him. Many murmured among themselves at the news. This was truly a scientific break-through! Raising his hands, the man at the podium called for silence. "Using the research of the state alchemists and the funds from the military, we have created the ultimate war weapon!" He scanned the crowd's reactions before gesturing to two other figures in coats behind the stage. Hastily, almost in panic, the young adults pushed a cart onstage.

The cart held on top what looked like a huge, steel capsule. After it had been deposited beside the podium, the pair of assistants fled backstage once again. Said white-coated man smiled in a superior way at the retreating forms. With a flourish, he turned back to the nervous crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he paused for dramatic effect, "I give you the Supernova!" he grasped a metal handle on the capsule, and with an effort, heaved. Clicks echoed through the hall as locks in the capsule door unlocked. Slowly, a rounded door opened, dispatching a cloud of steam from inside the capsule. Members of the audience gasped in astonishment at the shadowed figure that had been revealed inside. There was a long moment of silence, of which the scientist onstage was grinning in triumph.

Suddenly, a piercing screech erupted from the figure in the capsule. Gusts of scalding air buffeted the audience as flames billowed over the stage. The steel capsule and its cart were nothing but a shapeless glob of melted metal in a matter of seconds. White-coated scientist staggered back in terror. Chaos ran amok in the audience, military men trying to usher everyone out safely, investors pushing their way to the exit, and alchemists rushing forward to stop the fiery creature.

"No!" the man onstage shouted at the alchemists. "We can't destroy her, she is precious research! She-"His warnings were cut short when a plume of fire engulfed him. The screams were only momentary before he was burnt to death, leaving only a minuscule pile of ashes on the stage. Pure terror rippled through the rest of the humans who had remained to help. They were paralyzed by fear as a pair of eyes, holding wild hatred, glared down at them. All of them too, perished quickly under the experiment's wrath.

When every possible thing in the hall was reduced to ash, the mutant creature set the building to fire. Flames licked over computers, records, various machinery, and any survivors seeking refuge in the abandoned lab. Many an explosion broke out when chemicals were ignited. To the creature's satisfaction, no traces of the vile laboratory were left when she had completed her destruction.

**Chapter One:**

**Mustang's Command**

Dawn light filtered through the grimy window of a hotel on the outskirts of Central City. Dust motes trailed the long beams of light, brightening the gaunt room. A pair of beds and a dresser, furnishings who were just cloaked in darkness, became visible once again. The bed closest to the window held a lump tangled in stained sheets. The mound of sheets stirred and twitched as rays lengthened across it. Said lump let out a groan and pulled the sheets tighter over its head, covering a swath of blonde hair.

"Al!" the lump grunted finally. "Close the curtains! It's too bright…" Lump stirred again as it resettled itself. A small sigh sounded from the opposite bed. There was the noise of metal clanking against metal as a figure clad in a suit of armor rose and stood. With heavy, long footsteps the figure crossed the room and pulled moldy curtains over the window. Clouds of dust and cobwebs drifted near the helmeted-head, but he didn't seem to react. A pair of glowing red dots that illuminated from the eyeholes of the helmet turned to regard the mound on the bed.

"You really should get up anyway, brother." A surprisingly child-like voice echoed from deep within the armor. "Colonel Mustang is expecting you this morning." Al could almost see the waves of scorn rolling off his brother at the sound of the colonel's name. The older Elric began yanking way the tangle of sheets, muttering something that seemed to be a curse toward Mustang.

Then, satisfied that the sheets had been knotted in a ball at the end of the mattress, Edward yawned and stretched, testing the mechanics that was his right arm. _Everything seems to be working alright, _the blonde teenager decided. Next he turned so his feet dangled over the edge of the bed. Holding up his left leg, he wiggled each iron toe. Finally pleased, Ed turned to face his hulking younger brother.

"If Mustang wants to see me so early, it must be important…" the automail-limbed brother mused. He absently ran his fingers through his shoulder length hair. Alphonse brightened to see his usually spiteful brother start seeing the light of things.

"Yes it must!" was his eager, hasty reply. Edward nodded as he began to pull the sheets over him again.

"Which is all the more reason to stay asleep!" he shot the bewildered suit of armor an impish grin before closing his eyes. Al frowned, or he would've frowned if he had a mouth. Instead, the shining crimson orbs that served as eyes narrowed.

"You are just being lazy." Accused younger Elric. With that, he clamped his leather clad hands on his brother's sides and lifted him above his head. Edward protested loudly, "Al! Al put me down!" He squirmed and flailed his limbs vainly.

"Serves you right!" Alphonse replied sternly. He carefully lowered his scowling brother and set him on his feet. Cursing under his breath, Ed grabbed his only suitcase of belongings and disappeared into a minuscule bathroom.

There, he began changing clothes, pulling on black leather pants and a matching shirt. After pushing his arms in the sleeves of his jacket, he proceeded to slip on red-soled combat boots. The blonde was pleased at how the boots increased his height slightly. Next he pulled his lengthy gold hair in a braid that ran between his shoulder blades. With much effort, Edward heaved the handle of the sink faucet, but after seeing the color of the water he changed his mind and put it back into place. Carefully picking his way over the mold encrusted floor, the elder brother made his way back into the room.

"Ready to go, Al?" he inquired the steel plated figure who was gazing out the window. Alphonse's head shifted in a nod and followed red-cloaked Ed out the door. The hallway leading to the lobby reeked of a mixture of moth balls and old cabbage. Edward made a show off "choking" and staggered, at which his younger brother chuckled. A couple of burly men, probably circus folk, passed by the brothers on the way to their room. They gave the automail-limbed teen the "Wow-you're-short," look; which Ed countered with the "Say-anything-and-I'll-beat-you-up," look.

"At least we're leaving this piece of crap hotel." He grumbled as they strolled into the lobby.

"Watch what you say, brother." Al warned, glancing warily over his shoulder at the men who were lumbering away. The toothless old lady at the front desk seemed to have heard the adolescent's comment, for she released a low snarl when she snatched the room key from him and pushed a crumpled piece of paper in his face. When everything was signed and whatnot, the woman escorted the odd pair to the exit, just to make sure they left; and until they were out of sight as they walked down the street, she changed the sign outside the window to NO VACANCY.

"Do you want to get breakfast afterward?" Alphonse asked as they fell into the familiar route to Headquarters. Of course Ed would be the only one to eat, since his brother had neither mouth nor internal organs.

"Maybe," the elder Elric replied, "It depends on whether Colonel Sarcasm has more information on the stone or not." He sighed. "But knowing him we'll probably be sent on another wild goose chase." Edward recalled their previous journey, unconsciously clenching his fists as he did. They had been _certain_ they had a strong lead, but winded up at a dead end. Plus when they returned, Roy Mustang had already known their mission had been a failure. Edward had the strong suspicion the colonel was giving them false trails on purpose.

Suddenly the loud footsteps beside him began moving quickly away. He turned to see Al running toward an alley down the street.

"Al!" Edward shouted after him. "Where are you going?!" The younger brother called hastily over his shoulder, "I saw a cat!" and continued running. Giving an exasperated sigh, Ed began sprinting after him. Naturally, Alphonse was a much faster runner then his shorter brother, and Edward soon lost sight of him in the quickly crowding street. The adolescent hopped up and down, trying to see over sea of heads. However, Ed's meager size got the best of him and he gave up on that tactic. Instead he settled on shoving his way through the throng. This caused many an angry outburst. Then the elder Elric caught sight of a familiar helmeted head bob through the crowd.

"Al we'll find the cat later!" he called picking up speed as a group of people parted. "Wait up!" The suit or armor vanished from view again, causing Edward to growl in frustration... He forced his way through another clump of irritated citizens, muttering mutinously, "When I find that hunk of metal I'm-"

"Aaah!" Alphonse's startled yell cut short his brother's threat. Suddenly alarmed, Ed raced in the direction the shout had echoed. Instantly, Edward clapped his hands. He pressed his left hand to his automail arm. Blue sparks flew and a blade extended, piercing through his white glove that hid his iron hand. The weapon could prove useful if his brother had fallen into any serious trouble. People parted hastily now, seeing the jutting, abnormal appendage on Edward's arm. Al's voice floated around the corner.

"I'm sorry sir! Are you ok?" The alchemist rounded the corner, blade raised for attack. Instead of the bloodthirsty thieves he expected, he found his brother helping up a bespectacled man.

"It's quite alright." He said standing and fixing his glasses. He looked rather intimidated by Alphonse's hulking size. Edward stopped in his tracks, staring in surprise. He guessed this librarian or whatever wasn't much of a threat. Al suddenly noticed the red-cloaked teen standing before them.

"Brother!" he exclaimed getting Ed's attention. The blonde blinked and realized (feeling extremely stupid) that his right arm was still raised. He lowered it sheepishly.

"Hey Al."

"This is your brother?" that man chimed. He scanned Edward's small stature.

"_Older_ brother." The teen annunciated the word, fixing the man with a glare. Said man raised a skeptical eyebrow and opened his mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by Alphonse.

"I accidentally bumped into him while I was following the cat," the young Elric explained trying to keep a fight from breaking out.

"I'm Arthur Clearlight." The blue-eyed man said with a polite nod.

"Well it was…great to meet you Mr. Clearlight," Ed bit back the string of curses he was going use if Arthur mentioned his height, "but me and my brother have a meeting at Headquarters with Colonel Mustang." He turned on his heel and started walking.

"I'm on my way there as well!" Arthur piped brightly. "We could go together!" This man was starting to remind Edward of a hyper puppy. Alphonse was thrilled at the idea. Alphonse's brother on the other hand, inwardly groaned. _Just what we need, a peppy know-it-all…_ Ed thought grumpily. And so the three began their trek to Headquarters. The smaller alchemist transmuted his arm back to normal as they walked.

"Well there goes another pair of gloves…" he sighed, pulling off the one he shredded. His armored brother rolled his orb-eyes.

"Next time you should take your gloves off first, brother." He scolded.

"I was in a rush ok?!" retorted Edward. He added hotly, "And if you hadn't run off, I wouldn't have had to transmute my automail!"

"You must be the Elric brothers." Clearlight interrupted while studying Ed's automail arm.

"That's us." The adolescent grunted and stuffed his tattered gloves in his pocket. "I'm Edward and this is Alphonse." Ed gestured at suit of armor.

"Yes, I've heard a lot about you two." Arthur pushed his glasses farther up his nose. "Hero of the People they call you, Edward." The adult received a snort in reply from the spiteful blonde. Clearlight didn't seem to hear. "Is it true you became a state alchemist at 12?"

"Yep." The teen's answer was bored. Ed has answered this question many times before.

"Incredible!" exclaimed the bespectacled, dirty blonde adult. "Never before has a child passed the alchemy test! You must be a prodigy! To pass at such a young age…" Edward stopped listening, getting fed up with the fawning. He walked on, ignoring Arthur Clearlight's ranting. Alphonse sighed silently. It had been cool at first when people knew who they were and what they did, but he knew it had started to annoy his brother after awhile.

"I'm curious, Edward…" Arthur tapped Ed's shoulder to get his attention, "how did you get to obtain those automail limbs?" he fixed the alchemist's right arm with a stare. Al glanced at his brother, wondering what his reaction would be. The rarely told anyone what happened to them, and usually Ed avoided questions about it. The younger Elric watched his older brother's face darken.

"We're here." The blonde said sullenly. Al looked up. He was right; they were just walking up to the entrance gate. Edward slipped through the gate and stride toward the large building behind it. Clearlight followed, looking rather disappointed, with Alphonse close behind. When inside, they encountered a pair of soldiers.

"Professor Clearlight." The female one greeted. "Right this way." She began strolling down a hall to the left. Arthur trailed behind, looking over his shoulder at the Elrics.

"It was a pleasure meeting you boys!" the professor said cheerfully before disappearing around the corner.

"Good riddance…" Ed grumbled. Before Alphonse could lecture him, the other soldier saluted.

"The colonel will see you now, Mr. Elric." The young private announced.

"Yeah yeah." Edward waved off the soldier. "I know my way there." He sulked his way down the opposite hall. The private looked ready to protest, clearly frightened by Al's piercing red eyes and unnatural size. Unfortunately for him however, the automail-limbed alchemist was already out of earshot and was turning into the colonel's office.

"Good morning, Fullmetal." Roy's arrogant voice floated from behind a large stack of paperwork on his desk. He pushed aside the documents to fix his cold, black eyes on the adolescent. "I almost didn't see you over my papers."

"Very funny." Edward snarled dropping onto the couch in front of the desk. Mustang's assistant, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, nodded at him from the corner. "You can tell me why I bothered to come here so early now." His amber eyes narrowed. "It better be important."

"It is." Confirmed the raven-haired colonel. "I have an assignment for you." Mustang grabbed one of the pieces of paperwork and began filling it out.

"Assignment?" the blonde echoed rather dumbly. This was new.

"Yes." Roy drawled not looking up from his work. "You are to escort-"

"Escort?!" Ed retorted hotly "Do I look like a babysitter to you?!"

"You will hardly think it is babysitting once you meet who you are escorting." Mustang glanced up at the fuming teen.

"Well who is it then?" he demanded.

"She is of important use of the military. You might find her very…charming." The colonel smirked a little, like he was enjoying his own private joke. Edward wasn't impressed by this vague information. Roy continued, "You must provide food and shelter for 3 days, then you must bring her to Headquarters." He raised his head to give the younger alchemist a smug smile. "A hotel room does not count as shelter by the way." Edward Elric merely grunted unhappily before turning on his heel and exiting the room.

"Sir," Riza began approaching the colonel's desk, "you didn't mention-"

"He'll figure it out soon enough." Roy sighed, before returning to his paperwork.

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_It sounds a little...repetitive to me...I dunno..what do you guys think? _


End file.
